1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a method for treating individuals diagnosed with a form of PDD (pervasive development disorder) and other disorders such as ADD (attention deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). More specifically, the present invention is directed to therapeutic method for treating individuals with such disorders by administering secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, and/or digestive enzymes, as well as a prognosticative method for determining the potential effectiveness of the administration of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, and/or digestive enzymes for the treatment of such disorders.
2. Description of Related Art
PDDs are a class of disorders defined by both American and International diagnostic systems (i.e., the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) and World Health Organization: International Classification of Diseases, Tenth revision (ICD-10)). The spectrum of PDDs include disorders such as Autism, Aspergers, ADD, and ADHD. PDDs are typically characterized by multiple distortions in the development of basic psychological functions that are involved in the development of social skills and language, such as attention, perception reality testing and motor movement. In addition, many children diagnosed with Autism, for example, suffer from primary diffuse gastrointestinal problems such as protracted diarrhea and constipation. Although PDDs are currently of unknown etiology, many conventional methods, such as dietary alteration, behavioral modification, and medication, have been utilized for treating individuals suffering from PDD related disorders. Unfortunately, PDD related disorders have no known treatment beyond that which is symptomatic, and these conventional methods have proven unsuccessful in allowing such children and adults to become symptom, or disorder free.
A child which displays signs of developmentally inappropriate inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity is typically diagnosed as having ADD and/or ADHD. With these disorders, there can be marked disturbances of organization, distractibility, impulsivity, restlessness, and other disturbances of language and/or social behavior. A combination of psychiatric care and medicine is typically used for treating children with ADD and ADHD.
It was recently discovered that the administration of secretin, a gastrointestinal peptide hormone, to children diagnosed with Autism resulted in ameliorating the symptoms associated with Autism. This finding was published in the article by Horvath et al., entitled Improved Social and Language Skills After Secretin Administration In Patients with Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Journal of the Association for Academic Minority Physician Vol.9 No.1, pp. 9-15, January, 1998. The secretin administration, as described in Horvath, was performed as a diagnostic procedure, i.e., to stimulate pancreaticaobiliary secretion during an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, rather than as a therapeutic procedure. Although the specific mechanism by which the secretin improved the autistic-related symptoms was not specifically identified, Horvath postulated that secretin may have had a direct or indirect effect on the central nervous system. What is important, however, is that this was the first time that gastrointestinal problems of autistic children were linked to a possible etiology in Autism.
Accordingly, in view of such findings, a method for determining whether an individual suffering from a disorder in the PDD spectrum will benefit from the administration of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides and/or digestive enzymes, as well as a therapeutic method for treating such individuals with the administration of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides and/or digestive enzymes, are highly desired.
The present invention is directed to a method of analyzing the chymotrypsin level of an individual to determine the potential benefit of the administration of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides and/or digestive enzyme administration to such individual, and in particular, as a prognosticative of potential secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, and/or digestive enzyme administration for individuals diagnosed as having ADD, ADHD, Autism and other PDD related disorders.
In one aspect, a method for determining the efficacy of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, or digestive enzymes for the treatment of an individual diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) comprises obtaining a sample of feces from an individual, determining a quantitative level of chymotrypsin present in the sample, and correlating the quantitative level of chymotrypsin determined to be present in the sample with the PDD to determine the efficacy of treating the individual with secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, or digestive enzyme administration.
In another aspect, a therapeutic method for treating an individual diagnosed with a PDD pervasive developmental disorder comprises determining the efficacy of the administration of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, and digestive enzyme for the treatment of the individual based on a measure of the individual""s chymotrypsin level, and administering secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides, or digestive enzymes to the individual based on the determination of the measure of the individual""s chymotrypsin level.
The present invention involves determining the presence of abnormal protein digestion of individuals, especially children, by measuring the chymotrypsin levels so as to determine if the individual is likely to benefit from the administration of secretin, digestive enzymes, peptides and/or neuropeptides. Although there have been methods to test fecal samples for indications of cystic fibrosis and pancreatic diseases in infants, none of the known methods have tested fecal samples in determining the benefits of administering secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides and/or digestive enzymes to individuals suffering from a PDD. Indeed, in so far as an individual""s fecal chymotrypsin level is a broad measure of protein and fat digestion, such levels can be applied to all those who may benefit from improvements in this mode of digestion. Furthermore, as low measures of fecal chymotrypsin expresses an abnormality of protein digestion, it is postulated that an improvement of protein digestion to promote normal growth and development of an individual suffering from a PDD by the administration of secretin, other neuropeptides, peptides and/or digestive enzymes, can ameliorate the symptomatologies of PDDs.
Accordingly, in another aspect of the present invention, a therapeutic method is provided for treating an individual diagnosed with a PDD including but not limited to Autism, Aspergers, ADD and ADHD, comprising the steps of:
determining the effectiveness of secretin administration for the treatment of the individual based on a measure of the individual""s chymotrypsin level; and
administering secretin therapy to the individual based on the determination of the measure of the individuals chymotrypsin level.
In yet another aspect, the therapeutic method involves administering a fecal chymotrypsin test to measure an individual""s fecal chymotrypsin level. Preferably, an enzymatic spectrophotometry method is used for measuring the fecal chymotrypsin level of the individual. Upon determinating that an individual has an abnormal level of chymotrypsin, the individual is preferably administered 1 U/kg of body weight of porcine or human secretin by means of an intravenous push method. This method can be described as the administration of an IV push of saline solution and secretin to equal 1 U/kg of body weight. The individual then receives 1 unit test dose (absolute). A period of one minute is allowed to pass to determine if the individual has any allergic reactions to the secretin. After one minute has elapsed, if no urticarial reaction or any other allergic reaction has occurred, the remainder of the dose is administered. Subsequent fecal chymotrypsin samples are then gathered at one week intervals post administration to determine any changes in the chymotrypsin levels.